British Energy has secured 700 jobs at Hartlepool nuclear power station by extending the life of two sites for a further five years.

The Hartlepool and Heysham 1 plants have been dogged by output issues in recent years but British Energy, owned by French company EDF Energy, said the reactors had passed a technical and economic evaluation.

The announcement comes a day after the Government approved electricity market reforms which are expected to encourage investment in low-carbon power generation.